Hold Your Tongue
by Chaos Inventor
Summary: It isn't ladylike to fight, so one must hold their tongue if they wish to seem presentable.


_(A/N: This is a birthday present for LiliaLolita. It's only a little bit late... and I really hope you enjoy it! I hope you adore it, actually.)_

* * *

With a bundle of loose pages clutched in one hand, the farmer descended the hill on her way to town. The sound of autumn leaves crunching under each step she took was pleasant and soothed her nerves a little.

Her eyes travelled back to the pages in her hand and flitted over a few sentences.

The farmer was heading into town to show Iris the short story she'd written. With that goal in mind, of course she was nervous. Iris was a novelist, a fantastic novelist. Who could guess how she would judge another's work?

The farmer was passing by the paddy field when a lock of her blue hair fell in front of her face, as she was still busy looking at the pages in her hand.

She took a moment to tuck her hair back behind her ear, and as she was distracted doing this, the wind picked up and snatched away her story.

The farmer yelled out in her panic, rushing to collect the lost pages before they reached the river. She was terrified at the thought of a single sentence being lost to the river's current, so she disregarded all else.

A few moments into her panic, she heard a voice; "Oh gosh! Lolita, l-let me help!"

The farmer didn't even need to look up to recognise the owner of that voice. She let out a sharp, irritated sigh.

 _Of **all** the people in this town, did it have to be **Fritz** who showed up?!_

In the end, she did glance up to confirm that it was indeed the tiresome redhead there, but he was already crouched like she was, collecting runaway pages.

She knew that to keep Fritz away from as much of her story as she could, she would need to collect the pages faster than him, so she returned to retrieving at once.

Each page Fritz picked up, he looked at curiously. He began to move slower with every page he took in hand, becoming more and more curious as to what was written on them.

Lolita, however, was hasty in her recovery of her lost pages, as she wanted nothing more than to get away. Finally, when she was looking around to make certain there were no stray pages left, she heard Fritz speak again.

"Is this a story? Did you write it?" he asked, sounding like an over-excited puppy as usual.

"It's none of your business, that's what!" Lolita growled in reply.

She got to her feet, intending to walk over to her rival farmer and regain the pages he held.

But he spoke again, pointing to one of the pages in his hand; "I was only wondering because this character sounds a lot like you."

Lolita froze for a second in horror. Then she ran over to Fritz, having completely lost her calm, and yelled at him, "Don't you dare read it! Give it back!"

Now even more curious, Fritz held the pages a little more tightly and said, "Woah, maybe you should calm down."

Lolita did not calm down. She could not.

Fritz was sitting there on the ground, so when she reached for his hand that held the pages and he instinctively moved away from her, she pushed him over, grabbed the scarf around his neck tightly, and said right to his face, "Give me back those pages, you son of a bitch, or I'll make you suffer."

She was ready to break his nose with her fist if she had to. There was no way she'd let an uncultured brat like **him** read her story and judge her.

Fritz shoved the pages towards Lolita, utterly terrified. Neither of them wanted to be here at all now.

When Lolita had every page of her story together again, she stood up and walked away, her false calm returning to her.

She had meant for her first stop in town to be the antique shop so she could talk to Iris, but now Lolita made her way to the restaurant first.

There, she made an order and while she waited on a stool at the counter, she took the time to reorganise all the pages that had become mixed up.

When Raeger arrived with the snack she'd ordered, he asked her, "Did something happen? You look really worn out."

"Oh yes, something happened," Lolita muttered fiercely. She was usually much more quiet, but Fritz had already made her lose her temper today and she had no reservations. "I got into a fight with Fritz. You should really keep that friend of yours on a leash!"

She realised then that her knee-high socks had grass stains on them now, so she did her best to rub them away. Raeger took another look at her and understood that by fight, she meant physical altercation rather than just a verbal argument.

Raeger couldn't imagine Fritz would have wanted to start a fight, so he foolishly asked, "Did you start it?"

"It's not my fault that he wears my nerves down to nothingness! I can't even be near him without being set off now!" came her reply.

"Lolita, he's only trying to be nice. You're both farmers, so you have to see each other sometimes. You really should try and get along with him," Raeger said.

At that, Lolita glared up at him. That was all the response she felt was needed to give.

Then she began straightening her clothes and ran her hands through her hair to ensure there were no tangles. After she was satisfied with her appearance, she ate her snack quickly, not wanting to sit across from Raeger's judgemental gaze any longer.

As she hesitantly paid him, she said her parting words; "Just keep him away from me."

* * *

When Lolita stepped through the door of the antique shop, she sighed. She was relieved just to be here, certain that she'd feel better after speaking with Iris.

Her gaze wandered back to the pages in her hand and she felt nervous again, recalling what she was here to do.

Mistel was watching her from the counter curiously. He had already guessed Lolita was here to see his sister so he said nothing, waiting for her to head for the staircase.

But she stood there for such a long time, he began to doubt she would ever move at all.

To speed up the process, Mistel began tapping on the counter with his fingers until Lolita glanced over at him and felt uncomfortable in his presence.

She sped over to the stairs and one by one, made her way up the steps. When she turned the corner, she smiled at the sight of the beautiful novelist she'd come to see. Her smile was short lived, however, as she noticed Iris was not the only one in the room.

Klaus was there too, and he turned around in his seat when she entered the room.

"Oh, Lolita is here. Good day to you," Klaus said.

"Ah yes, hello Lolita! What brings you here today?" Iris asked with a slight tilt of her head.

Lolita didn't say a word for some time, still caught off guard by the fact Klaus was here, but she knew she had to say something before one of them commented on her silence.

Reluctantly, Lolita shuffled her way across the room and held out her story to Iris, saying, "I-I wrote this, and I'd be honoured to hear what you think of it."

Iris beamed as she lightened Lolita's load and replied, "Oh, is that so? I'd be delighted!"

"Not now, of course! When you have the time for it," Lolita said.

She glanced over at Klaus then, and immediately regretted it. He was looking at her as well, and she wondered what had caught his interest in that moment; her or her story?

Lolita turned her gaze away, trying her best to hide her disappointment. She had expected Iris to be alone. She'd wanted to stay and watch Iris while she read her story, to see her reaction to every part and hear what she had to say the moment she was finished.

But **Klaus** was here and that changed everything. She couldn't talk to Iris about her writing with Klaus here. She might as well have Klaus read the story as well! Of course, that was out of the question; she wasn't ready for that.

"Would you like to join us?" Iris asked.

Lolita was startled out of her thoughts. "No, that won't be necessary! I have things I ought to do anyway, so I'll be on my way."

"That's too bad. Another time!" Iris said as Lolita turned and headed for the stairs.

Before she could escape, however, Klaus offered her the words; "Take care," and something about the way he said it sent a shiver along her spine.

Lolita had to take a deep breath once she'd reached the bottom of the stairs again. Mistel leaned over the counter to get a look at her and once he had, he asked, "Now then, what's gotten you so flustered?"

"Nothing of your concern," Lolita replied.

Mistel giggled at that and pondered, "Should I have told you that Klaus was visiting?"

"Yes, you should have," Lolita growled, but did not stay to hear any more of Mistel's laughter.

She closed the door behind her and walked away, imagining how Iris's face might look as she read through Lolita's short story. She had always been an impatient person, and now she couldn't help but resent Klaus for making it so she wouldn't immediately know what Iris thought.

This day really had been awful. Lolita was starting to think that nothing could make her feel better now, as she moped her way along the street.

She didn't have a destination in mind, but as she was turning a corner and came into view of the Inn, she caught sight of Nadi muttering, "Goddamnit!" and punching a wall.

The look on his face suggested that he was just as unbelievably irritated as Lolita.

Startled but intrigued, she walked over to Nadi and he looked her way when she drew near.

"Oh. Did you… see that?" he murmured awkwardly. When Lolita nodded, he quickly continued, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything, so just forget you saw my, uh… outburst."

"Hold on a moment. I'm curious why you're so angry now," Lolita said.

Nadi looked worried as he shook his head, saying, "No, it's… it doesn't matter."

The door of the Inn was opened by Maurice then, who looked about and asked the two of them, "Did either of you hear that noise just now?"

"It was… it was nothing, okay? Don't worry about it," Nadi said.

Maurice glanced around one more time, but was satisfied enough by Nadi's reassurance to return indoors.

Once the door closed, Nadi sighed, knowing that Lolita was still looking at him with intrigue. He wished he could have controlled his anger for just a few moments longer so that she would have walked past and he would be free to spout all the curses under the sun without anyone hearing.

"Fine, I'll tell you," Nadi grumbled as Lolita still wouldn't leave. "I'm just really, really fed up with Elise!"

Lolita wasn't exactly surprised, but still asked, "What did she do?"

"I have my job to do, and I don't mind when she comes along and makes her comments or suggestions. It is her property after all. But when she starts asking- no, telling me to do stuff that has nothing to do with my actual job- and it's not like she's even going to pay me for that extra work -I have to draw a line!" Nadi's body was shaking, he was so angry. "She's treating me like I'm just another one of her servants or something!"

Lolita blinked a few times and the sight of her blank expression made Nadi retreat inwards, regretting his choice to vent, until she spoke up; "And you've told her?"

"Well… I keep on refusing whenever she asks me to do something and I thought she'd get the message. But she never does," Nadi said. He sighed deeply and added, "I think I might quit."

Lolita smiled slightly and said, "I don't blame you."

Nadi felt rather relieved. Venting seemed to have helped after all. "Uh… thanks for listening to me," he mumbled before heading indoors so he could hide away in his room.

* * *

It took until the next day before Lolita finally got a chance to see Iris again. She quickly walked to the staircase upon entering the antique shop this time, not wasting a glance on Mistel who was probably smirking as usual.

When Iris heard her ascending the stairs, she turned around and smiled at the sight of Lolita.

"It's good to see you again!" she said.

Lolita smiled back but her reply took a little longer. "...It's good to see you too! So, uh… have you read my story?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh yes. Do you have a moment? Actually, do you have several moments?" Iris asked.

"Do you have a comment about it?" Lolita returned excitedly.

"I have many comments! So if you have the time, please take a seat," Iris said.

Lolita did so at once, though her anticipation made it difficult for her to sit still. Iris followed, sitting down across from her and began talking.

At first, as Iris chattered excitedly over moments in the plot, Lolita was delighted. But as the clock ticked on, she became exhausted. Iris spoke in great detail about everything; good points, bad points, absolutely everything.

After she'd finally said all on her mind, she noticed Lolita withering away. "Oh. I'm sorry! I should have asked how much you wanted me to say. I've just never gotten to comment on someone else's work before, so I thought **a lot** about it," Iris said.

"It's… it's okay," Lolita murmured, though she looked like her brain had imploded.

"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry!" Iris exclaimed, leaping to her feet.

Before she could race around the table and comfort her friend, Lolita was on her own feet, continuing to reassure Iris with the words, "It's okay. It's okay. I just need… to process it all."

She stumbled towards the staircase and Iris frowned as she left, wishing perhaps that she had held her tongue.

While Lolita descended the stairs, she heard Iris call out, "Watch your step, dear!" which was fortunate since Lolita had almost missed a step.

Then, before she reached the exit of the store, Mistel said to her, "A moment, Lolita."

She turned around and took a moment to breathe in so as to compose herself before striding over to where Mistel stood at his counter. "Yes?" she replied.

"I heard you got into a fight with Fritz recently," he began. "I think it would be very good for you if you kept your hatred for him bridled, like I do."

Lolita sighed irritatedly at the mention of Fritz. "Oh, I'm sure it must be so easy for you. But Fritz… he makes me want to climb onto a rooftop and scream, 'I HATE YOU!' How can I possibly keep a feeling like that within?" she snapped.

Mistel hid his giggles behind a hand and when he had control of himself again, he said, "I'm afraid that will get you into trouble. Perhaps I could give you some advice?"

"What could you possibly say to me that would help? I already try my best to avoid him at all costs! Then if I do run into him, I try to ignore him. It does no good!" Lolita grumbled.

"Say nothing to him, but imagine his head slowly being crushed by an anvil. Or some other kind of horrific accident," Mistel said.

"I believe that would end up doing much more harm than good," Lolita said in a warning tone.

She spun around and headed for the door then, only wishing that she could keep Fritz out of every conversation she had.

A quick glance at the sun in the sky reminded Lolita of how much time had already passed in the day. She could hardly believe it. But as there was little left to do, she decided it would be best to make her rounds around town, paying visits to all the familiar faces.

Each time she entered a building and received a warm smile, she wondered just how happy were they to see her again? Another thought entered her mind and she felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't seen Giorgio in quite some time and he probably thought she was avoiding him, when really it was his neighbour.

Now at the entrance of Elise's property, Lolita looked about in search of the farm's owner. She wasn't out in the fields, though that didn't come as a surprise, so Lolita walked up to the front door of the mansion.

The first thing she heard upon opening the door was, "Finally, you're back! I- o-oh, it's not..."

Elise had been waiting on the first step of the staircase in the centre of the room, looking impatient, but now her expression changed to doubt as she tried to figure out what to do next.

She found her words suddenly, and demanded to know; "What are you here for?"

"I- uh… I mostly dropped by just to say hello," Lolita stammered.

"What a waste of time," Elise muttered.

She was about to shout at her to go away, but before she had a chance, Lolita spoke up again. "I've noticed, actually, that you've been acting a little… well, differently? Is something bothering you?"

Elise didn't reply, but just stared at Lolita in shock, wondering what made her think it would be all right to ask her such a thing.

"I haven't been acting unusual in the slightest!" she snapped, then a moment later, continued in the strangest way, "...Have I? No! No, I haven't!"

Lolita wondered why Elise was getting so furious when she was only asking if she was all right. "Is there any particular reason you're angry with me?" she asked.

"Yes! Y-y-you're wasting my time!" Elise replied.

Lolita sighed and turned for the door. She heard Elise gasp and rush over to her then.

"Hang on… M-maybe you could help me?" Elise murmured.

Lolita turned back and gave her a curious look. "What help do you need?"

"I… I was thinking… perhaps some advice… Oh, fine! The fact of the matter is that I've… become rather fond of Nadi," Elise said, her voice trailing at the end.

"Oh! This definitely explains things. Well then, Elise, I can tell you something. You're terrible at flirting. In fact, if you keep things up like this, Nadi will quit and you'll never see him again," Lolita said.

"Excuse me?!" Elise exclaimed in surprise and confusion.

"You keep on asking Nadi to do things for you, right? Because you like having him around?" Lolita began, to which Elise slowly and nervously nodded her head. Lolita continued, "He thinks you've mistaken him for another servant and couldn't be more pissed off with you."

"You're not serious, are you? I don't want him to leave! What am I supposed to do?" Elise asked desperately.

"Don't order him around, for one thing. You should do something for him instead. If you were to show that you were paying attention to him, rather than trying to get him to pay attention to you, then even if he doesn't realise you like having him around, he might start to like _you_ ," Lolita said.

Elise crossed her arms and regarded Lolita suspiciously. She knew she had to do something differently or risk losing Nadi altogether, but that didn't give her reason to trust Lolita.

In an attempt to ascertain how trustworthy Lolita was, Elise asked, "You sound so calm, it almost makes me wonder if you find my predicament amusing. Perhaps… are _you_ interested in Nadi?! I mean, how could you not be?! Oh, I should have known! I only like the very best, so of course everyone must adore him!"

"E-Elise! It's all right! You don't have to worry about me, I already have someone else..." Lolita hoped Elise wouldn't take much note of that last remark, but unfortunately, that was not to be the case.

"Hmm? You… like someone else? Then who is it?!" Elise demanded, not yet ready to cross Lolita off her list of potential threats.

Lolita proceeded to turn bright red and shake her head viciously. Seeing the colour in her cheeks, Elise realised she was being honest, and so ceased her hostile approach.

Instead, she just asked cheerfully, "Who is it? Come now, there's no need for secrets between friends."

"Friends? You were just shouting at me a second ago," Lolita replied.

"So be it. I suppose you can leave now. But I **will** hold you accountable if Nadi quits even after I've taken your advice!" Elise said.

Lolita offered her a nervous smile, finding it too much effort to conjure up a real one, and hurried out of the building.

* * *

A day or so passed without much of note occurring. The autumn days were approaching their end and as winter arrived, Lolita shivered. She wondered what she should wear, rather than her usual short cheongsam, for the following season.

That day, Lolita exited her home in a dress; the vest and woolly tights that went with it her safeguard against the cold.

She headed to town quite early as she needed to buy feed for her animals from the general store. She entered the shop a little while after it opened and began searching the shelves to collect the amount of feed she needed.

Otmar asked her if she needed any help during this time, but Lolita smiled and said she was fine. The truth was she just knew it would be faster if she did it all herself than to trouble the old man.

When she had it all together and placed it up on the counter, she started to count out all the gold she needed. However, she was so startled by the sound of the door opening as another customer entered that she accidentally dropped her money pouch and coins scattered the floor.

She muttered irritatedly at herself and crouched down to start picking up coins. Fixated on this act, she only stopped when she heard a voice say; "You're always droppin' things, aren't you?"

Lolita was up on her feet so fast, it seemed like she'd received a horrific electric shock. It wasn't too far off from the truth, considering Fritz's existence always gave her a shock.

Now that they were face to face, he grinned at her. She frowned in response, confused.

What was making him act this way, she wondered. Had he forgotten their run in by the river when she'd threatened to punch his nose into a new shape?

With her fist clenched by her side, Lolita was almost ready to give him a reminder. But she held herself back.

Otmar was beginning to worry as there were coins still scattered all over the floor and Fritz wondered if maybe he should start picking them up since Lolita wasn't making the slightest of movements, when suddenly she turned to the door and walked away.

"W-wait, Lolita! What about your money?!" Fritz called out.

"What about your purchase?" Otmar called out as well.

"I'm okay!" Lolita replied and walked faster for the door.

She just wanted to get out of there, to get as far from Fritz as she could. That was her number one priority. Fritz and Otmar glanced at each other, both of them equally befuddled.

Lolita was pacing towards the other side of town when Fritz leaned out the doorway, calling to her, "You can't just leave your money lyin' there!"

Lolita didn't even respond. The thought of Fritz following her, even if it was just to return her those coins, was a thought she didn't want to imagine. If she ran, however, she could get away.

So she started running, hitting the top step that led to the other side of town in a moment and at that speed, she had no way of slowing herself. It wouldn't have mattered if someone had reminded her to watch her step this time.

She tripped on the top steps and she fell.

Her breath was stolen from her by the fall so she couldn't make a sound. Her stomach lurched as she was falling and then she collided with something, but not the ground. Not the ground? What then?

Lolita opened her eyes and saw the green coat and vest and the yellow cravat. She looked up to make sure, and yes, she'd crashed into Klaus and his outstretched arms.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

Lolita didn't know. All she could think was, _of all the people in this town, I'm glad it was Klaus who caught me._

"My, my, your face is awfully red now," Klaus murmured.

Lolita jumped backwards and almost slipped on the steps again. Frantically, she babbled something along the lines of, "Thank you very much! Now, I must be off!" and scurried past him and away, far, far away.

She knew she couldn't run forever so she stopped outside the carpenter's shop, thinking she might have gained enough of a lead to be safe for awhile.

She caught her breath then and took the chance to think… what was she going to do next? Where was she going to go?

There was nowhere in town that would make sense to go to. What she should really be doing was her farmwork, but she couldn't go back without the extra feed, and she'd have to go back to the general store for that.

Damn, she had not thought this through. Damn Fritz! It was his fault! If he hadn't shown up then, if he didn't exist at all, Lolita would be acting like a totally normal person right now!

A sigh escaped her and she looked down the street. Although she did not have a place to go, it was obvious to her that onwards was better than backwards, so she set off on her way.

She headed straight for the trade depot when she glimpsed it in the distance. Knowing she could duck behind a stall if she spotted someone she didn't want to talk to, it seemed like the perfect place to be.

She remained there for some time, pretending to browse the stalls as she pondered how she could go about collecting the feed from the general store and returning to her farm without being observed. Plenty of people made their way through the trade depot over this time.

Among them was one who approached her and said, "Hey, Lolita!"

Lolita spun around in a panic but calmed when she saw it was only Raeger. "You almost gave me a heart attack," she snapped and Raeger quickly apologised. "Er… anyway. Good morning, Raeger. Hang on, good day?" She glanced up at the sky, unsure how much time had passed.

Raeger didn't help her with her confusion and just laughed a little. "There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about," he continued a moment later.

"And that is?" Lolita asked.

"Fritz! What else?" was Raeger's answer.

"Oh for goodness sake," Lolita muttered. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about now.

"Of course, if you really want, I can easily borrow a ladder from Gunther," Raeger said.

Lolita didn't understand that remark even slightly so she said nothing, leaving only a puzzled expression on her face as her response.

Raeger smiled and explained further, "So that you can climb onto a roof and scream to your heart's content." Lolita was only more suspicious now, but before she could question his odd choice of words and figure out what had led him to say them, Raeger continued, "I do think it would be much better if you learnt to get along with Fritz, however."

That was true. Even Lolita knew that. Her current situation wouldn't be occurring if things were different. She shot Raeger an impatient glance and said, "Well then? Get on with it. I don't have anywhere to be right now, so this is your chance to speak."

"Well, first we need to get you two together so you can talk. If you're a little more patient and open minded, I think he'd start to grow on you. But it'll take time," Raeger said.

"Hey, why are you acting like it's my fault?! Maybe he's the one with the problem! He never knows when to just be quiet!" Lolita growled.

"You may be… sort of right… Okay, if that's what you want, then we need to get you two together so that you can explain that to him clearly!" Raeger said.

"Fine! The next time I see Fritz, I'll tell him to shut up!" Lolita promised.

She started to walk past Raeger, so he reached out to stop her in a panic, saying, "Wait no, don't do that!"

Lolita smacked away Raeger's hand and because she was busy giving him a malicious glare, she almost walked right into someone else.

She turned around quickly when she realised someone was there. She almost apologised on command but the words faltered in her throat.

It was Fritz standing there. He'd caught up with her.

For a moment, Lolita wondered how much he'd heard from them. But… no. He hadn't seemed to have heard any part of their conversation.

He held up what was in his arms and said, "Here ya go. You left all this at the general store."

Lolita glanced down and realised Fritz was carrying her money pouch and the bags of feed she'd left on the counter. Slowly, she took the money pouch which had all its missing coins inside, and put that back in her bag. Then, as she took the bags of feed, she said, "Thank you."

He was being polite, so she would be polite.

Unfortunately, Raeger seemed to take this to mean that she was in a charitable mood, for he jumped over to their side and said, "This is the perfect chance for you two to hang out! I think you'd both benefit from spending the day together."

"No, I can't! I… I have farmwork to do, you know?" Lolita said.

"But that won't really take you all day, will it? Anyway, Fritz is a farmer! He could even help you finish faster!" Raeger suggested. He turned Fritz's way to ask, "What do you think?"

"Definitely! Come on, Lolita, why not?" Fritz replied.

"I… I..." Lolita muttered. She peered at the oblivious face before her and asked, "Aren't you even slightly worried about yourself?"

She was beginning to wonder if Fritz even remembered being threatened by her at all. She still wasn't sure, when he said, "You're so quiet sometimes, you must have so much pent up energy!"

"I… I may have pent up energy… but maybe it's better that way!" Lolita replied. If she wasn't holding all these bags of feed, she knew both her fists would be clenched and shaking with fury.

All she wanted was to get out of here. Granted, that's how she always felt when dealing with Fritz, but… maybe she could start to get along with him, if it were another day.

"Come on, come on, it's just one day! I've been dyin' to talk to you and we can do whatever you want!" Fritz promised.

"But I don't want to! I mean… there's just nothing I want to do with you," Lolita snapped back.

Fritz frowned and replied, "Aw, that can't be true! We went swimming together once-"

"Against my will," Lolita added in.

"R-really?"

"You pushed me into the river!"

"I just thought you needed a bit of encouragement," Fritz murmured nervously. Then his grin returned as he continued, "You're a farmer! You must love the outdoors! Just follow me an' I'm sure I can make you smile by the time the sun sets!"

Lolita clamped her teeth together, trying to keep herself calm. But no. That voice that started her head aching and made her want to be sick, she'd had enough of it!

"Shut. Up." As she spoke, she grabbed Fritz's arm with one hand, dropping some bags of feed as she did, and dug her nails in, hoping he would see now how serious she was. "Shut up, Fritz!" Her eyes blazed and with her other hand, she clutched the remaining bags so tightly that she almost broke the fabric. "If you won't, I'll shove this birdseed down your throat until you do!"

Everything was quiet then. Lolita was relieved. It took her a moment to realise that the reason it was so quiet was because everyone in the trade depot was staring at her in silence.

She glanced around and met everyone's shocked gazes. With everyone staring at her, it felt as though walls were closing in around her. She felt so terrified and trapped, she dropped the remaining bags of feed she held and ran from the scene.

* * *

Lolita hid for a long time. She found a place in town where nobody gathered and sat herself behind a hedge there. Hidden away behind the leaves, she wondered what was going to happen.

She had been nothing more than the quiet farmer up on the hill, and now everyone had seen her do this. Maybe not everyone, but word would spread with incomprehensible speed. What would the town think of her then?

She knew she wouldn't find out hiding behind a hedge and nothing would come from staying here either. She glanced about, hoping to find a reason to stay hidden, but no one was there. Now was a good a time as any to get to her feet and return to the trade depot.

She didn't look around herself as she walked down the street, planning just to walk to the depot, pick up the bags of feed she had left abandoned, and walk back to her farm. When she got there and began reclaiming the feed, she couldn't help but glance up a few times.

Many of the people who had been there before had since moved on, but those that remained glared at her, affirming in her mind that she was something to be afraid of.

She picked up the bags quickly and hoped she would escape just as quickly, but on her way out of the depot, she caught someone's eye; Nadi, to be exact. She couldn't ascertain what he was thinking as he was giving her a serious look, but not one of anger or horror as most others had.

He said one thing to her before they both carried on their ways; "You've got guts."

That was one way to put it, Lolita thought as she headed away. She picked up speed once she was out of the trade depot and headed for the town's exit, trying to ignore thoughts of the townspeople and focus solely on her farm. She'd get back there, do her work, then deal with everything else later!

At least, that's what she'd hoped to do, but before she could reach the exit, she heard a voice call out to her. "Lolita, stop right there."

She stopped but it was several moments before she finally turned to face the one who had spoken. Klaus was looking at her with a very disapproving expression and there was no doubt in her mind that he knew of what she had done.

"I need to speak with you about something," Klaus said. Lolita knew exactly what was on his mind and it was the last thing she wanted to speak about. But she didn't have much choice.

"Okay," she murmured and followed him along to the other side of town.

He led her to his house where she sat at the table in the first room, placing the bags of feed she still carried in front of her so her arms were free. Klaus sat down across from her and continued to look at her with an expression more judgemental than any she had seen before.

Lolita avoided his gaze directly, glancing his way occasionally as she spoke. "So, er… what did you want to say to me?"

"I'm sure you know exactly what this is about. I heard about your little disagreement with Fritz, but the way you shouted at him was entirely unacceptable!" Klaus said, and Lolita averted her eyes completely. "Did you think that was okay? Your behaviour was incredibly unladylike and I believe it's time you were taught a lesson in manners," Klaus grumbled on.

Lolita listened without raising her gaze once. She took in his words and accepted them, thinking them over and over in her mind. Suddenly, she stopped.

"You know what?" Lolita took the bundle of feed bags in her arms again as she stood up. "Fuck you."

And she stepped towards the door, knowing Klaus's mouth would be left hanging wide open as she left. She fumbled for the door handle for a moment, as her hands were full and that made it more difficult, but then she was gone!

Now she walked out of town and along the path back to her farm without anyone stopping her, and once she was home she headed straight into her house where she threw all the feed bags aside and leaned her back against the door.

" _What have I done?_ " she hissed at herself.

If she hadn't already made everyone in town think she was awful, think she was no good, think she was someone they didn't want to speak to, now that she had spoken to Klaus in such a way, there was no hope. Klaus was bound to tell people and then…

Lolita slid down to the ground and pulled her knees up to her face so she was surrounded by darkness.

She knew everyone in town was going to hate her now. She could already feel their hate.

* * *

When Lolita wandered into town the next day, she peered at every passer-by nervously, wondering what they were thinking at the sight of her. She received most of her usual "good mornings" but none of them came with the usual warm smiles.

She was filled with dread as she came towards Klaus's residence and then saw that he was in fact standing outside the antique shop, talking to Iris.

Lolita watched them both until they noticed her and turned to face her. The look of disappointment in both their eyes was enough to make Lolita want to cry. She quickly ran in the opposite direction.

She knew now there was no hope. Everyone in town hated her. She… didn't belong here. The people whose opinion she cared about the most… they both hated her now. She could never go back there. She could never talk to them again.

Lolita felt tears pricking at her eyes so she looked up, hoping to find something to distract her, and to both her dismay and relief, the most distracting thing she had ever known appeared before her. She let out a sharp, irritated sigh as she was approached by Fritz.

"Good morning, Lolita!" Fritz began.

Lolita didn't say a word in response, or do anything for that matter. She stared at Fritz in silence until he began to worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked but Lolita just shook her head.

"Why are you talking to me? I mean… why are you talking to me like nothing happened?" she asked him.

"How else am I gonna greet you?" Fritz answered, then after a moment of thought, added, "Anyway… people have said worse things to me than you the other day."

Lolita rubbed her forehead with a hand, unsure how to take all this. She couldn't comprehend how so many people she cared about now hated her, and yet the one she'd been truly cruel to was willing to talk to her. And he was still smiling, like he actually enjoyed her presence!

"God, why are you always so… so… kind?!" She turned away, not wishing to face the idiot anymore. She was still on the brink of tears and she didn't want him to see her cry.

Now, though, they weren't tears of sadness or loneliness. She was filled with overwhelming relief. Relief that at least **one** person didn't hate her.

Thinking about it, she wondered why it was she had hated Fritz so much. It was because he was annoying, right? Well… she was starting to think Klaus was annoying too. _Annoying_ didn't seem like such a big problem anymore.

Lolita turned back and saw Fritz still smiling at her.

"Are you serious? Even now, even though you're dealing with me, this horrible person… You're still faking a smile? I mean… that smile is fake, isn't it?" She couldn't believe it could be real.

"Yeah, it's mostly fake," Fritz admitted, chuckling awkwardly.

Lolita was surprised by his honesty and couldn't help but feel even worse, knowing she was the reason Fritz was having to fake his smile. She looked him in the eye and said, "I want a real smile from you."

After she had spoken, she began to smile herself, a smile that spread wide across her face although her lips quivered a little, and he then grinned for her.

The next moment, they had returned to normalcy. Fritz said, "It's still kinda early. You didn't forget to do your farmwork, did ya?"

Before any response came from Lolita, her stomach growled. Both of them were startled by the sound.

"Are you hungry?" Fritz asked.

"I… I didn't eat yesterday. I got so caught up in everything that I forgot," Lolita explained, but then a panicked look came across her face. "Wait, I forgot to feed my animals as well!" she yelled and immediately raced away for her farm.

Fritz called out to her but she didn't hear him so he just stood there, staring after her blankly.

Once she'd gotten back to her farm, she ran into her house, picked the feed up off the floor, and ran out to her barn and coop. She begged her animals to forgive her but they hardly noticed, more interested in the feed she was offering them.

It took her some time to deal with all the mess she'd left yesterday and due to her own hunger, she grew exhausted much quicker. As she finally stumbled out of the buildings, she wondered if she even had enough energy to make it to the restaurant. She knew for sure she didn't have enough energy to cook for herself.

Lolita took one step towards the mountain trail before she heard a voice yell, "HEY, LOLITA!"

She spun around and saw Fritz waving at her from her own farmland. Racing over to him, she saw he was preparing a picnic blanket but still felt suspicious.

"How'd you get this food so quick?" she asked.

"I knew you were hungry so I got Raeger to make you his fastest lunch special!" Fritz was sitting down now, placing all the food along the blanket for Lolita to see. He grinned at her and said, "Come on, you must be starving!"

That was certainly something Lolita wouldn't deny. She willingly collapsed beside him and took whatever food she could reach first.

Right now, it didn't matter who she was eating with. She was just starving.

* * *

Many, many days later, as the end of winter was edging closer, Nadi brought Fritz and Lolita together.

"What's this about?" Fritz asked.

Nadi had clearly been deep in thought all through the past day and his troubles were still with him. He explained then to them both; "It's going to be Elise's birthday soon and… I think I'm supposed to do something."  
"Hmm? Like what?" Lolita asked.

"I don't know. She hasn't outright told me to do anything, which is weird for her. But… I know it would make her happy. And if I didn't do anything, she'd be really disappointed," Nadi explained. "So… I thought it would be good to get her a cake! Since she'd probably think her birthday was incomplete without one… and that's why I brought you both here today. Please help me."

"I'm just the man for the job!" Fritz declared confidently.

Lolita, on the other hand, headed for the door. "He _is_ the man for the job, so you don't need me, right?" she said as she walked away.

Nadi stopped her from exiting, however, and whispered away from Fritz's earshot, "Controlling Fritz takes more than one person, which is why I need your help."

Lolita couldn't argue with that, so she sighed and accepted her fate.

The next issue was finding a kitchen to work in. Lolita was the only one with her own kitchen, but since it wasn't that big, Fritz said he'd ask Raeger if they could borrow the restaurant's kitchen. Raeger said as soon as he had a day off, that would be fine.

So the following Wednesday, Nadi, Lolita, and Fritz gathered in the restaurant with all the ingredients they were to need.

Fritz immediately raced to the kitchen and started work before either Nadi or Lolita could do a thing. They followed after him, hoping that he'd be so keen he'd end up doing all the work himself. Fritz took charge, ordering his fellow chefs to hand him certain things when he needed them, but other than that, he worked alone.

Which was fine until he started melting chocolate on the stove and accidentally knocked a small spice jar towards it. Spices flew into the fire which made it blaze up to the ceiling and everyone screamed.

Fritz breathed a sigh of relief when the fire died back down but Nadi and Lolita still seemed to be panicking. Confused, he turned to them to try and ascertain what they were so worried about.

He only figured it out when Nadi shouted at him, "Your head's on fire!"

Lolita jumped at him, wielding a dish-washing cloth to douse the flames, and yelled at him, "Be careful! Your hair's your only good quality!"

Fritz almost crashed into the stove as Lolita attempted to save his hair from burning away, but he managed to turn and fall to the floor instead. Nadi turned on the tap above the sink and Lolita used the running water, along with her cloth, to put out the flames.

The rest of the baking expedition passed by uneventfully.

When the cake was in the oven and all they had to do was wait, Fritz asked Lolita what she had meant by her comment about his hair.

"Do you mean… you like my hair?" he asked.

Lolita crossed her arms and replied, "The colour's nice. But I wish you had a better personality to go with it."

Raeger returned soon after the cake was pulled out of the oven and he congratulated them on creating something that looked so wonderful. He agreed to keep it stored in his pantry until Elise's birthday, and so they all departed for home.

None of them ever told Raeger about the fire, for fear that he'd never trust any of them again.

And then, a few days later, Elise's birthday arrived.

Nadi and Fritz headed over from the restaurant to Elise's mansion. Fritz was insistent that he carry the cake, as he was the one who made it. Nadi didn't even bother trying to take any credit, since it would just be a lie.

Nadi knocked upon the grand doors of the mansion and soon enough, they were opened to show Elise within. She smiled at Nadi but then turned her attention to Fritz with confusion.

"You don't really expect me to let you in, do you?" she questioned Fritz, whose smile dropped at once. She turned to Nadi and asked him, "Why don't you send him away?"

"He's my friend… and he made the cake, anyway," Nadi said.

Elise was silent for a moment, then murmured, "O-oh? Well, a friend of Nadi's is a friend of mine."

"Aw shucks, Miss Elise, I'm honoured you'd call me a friend!" Fritz replied.

"Er… right! You should be honoured!" Elise said, then turned and bid them both to follow her indoors. "We'll take that cake straight to the dining room," she explained.

Nadi looked around and was surprised by how different the place looked. "What's with all the decorations?" he asked.

"Oh… Lolita showed up this morning because she wanted to decorate all the rooms. It's completely embarrassing, honestly!" Elise said, although she was hiding a smile.

When they entered the dining room, they were greeted to the sight of Lolita fixing up some decorations over in the corner of the room. She twirled around when she heard the door open and said, "It's about time you two showed up."

They all smiled at her and the four walked to the table where Fritz placed the cake at the centre. Before anything else happened, Nadi asked if there was anywhere Elise was keeping all her presents, as there was something he had to add to the pile.

Lolita watched as Elise led Nadi to another room. Apparently Nadi had decided the cake wasn't enough after all.

Fritz was busy looking at every inch of Elise's dining room and Lolita could only assume his reason for this was because he'd never been here before and was curious. However, she changed her mind when he said to her, "Amazing! Your work with these decorations is really great!"

"Oh… thank you," Lolita replied after her initial shock had passed.

Elise and Nadi walked back into the room after this short exchange. The birthday girl walked to the centre of the table, prepared to make a speech.

She spoke, the others casually listened, but they all couldn't help but let their eyes wander. Fritz noticed the flower motif in the decorations once more and turned to Lolita to ask her, "Hey, what's your favourite flower?"

"Pink carnations… Why do you ask?" came her reply.

Fritz grinned and said, "No reason!"

Lolita was worried… Maybe she shouldn't have given away that information. She laughed at herself then. What harm could it do? It wasn't even that personal a detail.

Elise was irritated Fritz and Lolita were talking to one another rather than paying attention to her, so she shouted at them to hurry up and watch as she cut the cake. Quickly, they returned to focusing on Elise and all four of them enjoyed the day's celebration together.

* * *

It was nearly half a year before the subject of flowers returned to Lolita's mind. It was an important midsummer day for her; her own birthday, to be exact.

She had almost strolled right into town when an over-excited puppy-like farmer ran up to her with his usual grin plastered on his face.

"What's that you have with you?" Lolita asked him, gesturing to the hand he had hidden behind his back.

Fritz's replied, "I can't give you your birthday present when you're just standing here by the side of a road," and proceeded to pull her along with him until they were at the bridge.

He looked about and, seeming to have decided this was a nice enough place, turned to Lolita, holding out his birthday gift to her; a bouquet of Hilton Daisies.

"Happy birthday!" he exclaimed with a smile that could put the sun to shame.

Lolita stared at him for awhile and then let out a familiar sharp, irritated sigh. "I told you my favourite flowers were Pink Carnations, you idiot!"

Fritz's smile slowly disappeared as he thought about it, trying to recall that moment in the past. Once he finally did, he muttered quietly to himself, "Damn, I knew it was an autumn flower!"

Lolita wasn't even sure if she wanted to accept the bouquet now and instead turned her gaze over to the town entrance. She wondered who might be waiting to give her a gift, a better gift, in town.

Fritz quickly spoke up to stop her from leaving, "Hang on, I have somethin' else! M-maybe you'll like this more?" He rooted through his pocket desperately, trying to find whatever it was.

Lolita waited, growing more and more impatient by the second, until finally Fritz held out his second gift and her expression switched from irritation to shock.

"Fritz. Is that… Is that an ordinary ring? If it is, I can accept it, but..."

Fritz shook his head to Lolita's question and explained, "It's not an ordinary ring. I'm sorry for screwin' all this up so badly with the flowers and all that!" Then he got down on one knee, and with the ring held up in front of him, he said, "I want you to go out with me! Nothing would make me happier!"

Lolita couldn't believe what was happening. She took a few breaths and then regained her train of thought. "My god, you're ridiculous," she muttered. "Get back on your feet."

Fritz turned his gaze down sadly and even though he knew what he was about to hear, he felt nervous as he pulled himself up. He continued to watch the ground attentively so that he wouldn't have to meet Lolita's eyes, but she stepped up to him and moved his chin with her hand so that he had no choice.

"Honestly, you idiot. I can't kiss you if you're knelt down like that!"


End file.
